60 years of Frontier Arms
Mike Papps, centre, with his sons Chris, far left, Damien and
Bernard at the 2008 SHOT Expo. A 1936 Chevrolet Master motor car pulls up at the freight terminal of the Adelaide Railway Station and out steps a 16-year-old delivery boy. The year was 1949 and newly licensed driver Mike Papps was picking up a parcel from Mick Smith Sports in Sydney. Mike’s father Leo had sent him to collect a consignment of ex-military ammunition to be sold to members of the Adelaide Pistol Club, so they could shoot in their monthly matches. Little did Mike know that 60 years later, he would be running one of the oldest firearms businesses in the country.
“Firearms and ammunition were in very scarce supply after the war and my father Leo was always on the lookout for supplies,” says Mike.
Leo had moved to Adelaide from Melbourne in the Depression to start a finance business. Being a keen target shooter and hunter, he, like many shooters, was frustrated at not being able to enjoy his shooting due to very limited availability of firearms and ammunition.
“Dad had developed good relationships with gun dealers - Mick Smith in Sydney and George Lansell in Melbourne - and would regularly get goods sent over,” said Mike.
From supplying ex-military firearms and ammunition to target shooters after WWII, Frontier Arms has grown to be the Australian agent for some of the world’s leading firearm manufacturers. They now represent gunmakers Colt, Hammerli, Thompson Center, Umarex and Walther, as well as Knobloch shooting glasses, and distribute their products through gunshops around the country.
In the early 1950s, Leo travelled to the USA and visited a number of gunshops to research what target shooters were using over there. He was impressed with the then-new Colt Woodsman .22 pistol and so began their relationship with Colt.
Interest in the shooting sports was flourishing around the time of the Melbourne Olympic Games and Mike recalls the first delivery of Hammerli pistols in 1955.
“Hammerli pistols had been winning medals in international competitions, so shooters wanted to own them. Dad arranged for 10 Hammerli Match Free pistols and two Hammerli Olympia Rapid Fire pistols to be shipped from Switzerland.”
Mike and his brother Peter benefited from having a father in the firearms business, as they both went on to compete in pistol shooting at the Olympic Games.
“Our father was very supportive of our pistol shooting and ensured we had access to the best equipment possible,” said Mike.
While Leo and the whole family saw Peter shoot at the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956, he would not get to see Mike compete, as he passed away suddenly in 1960, just three weeks before Mike went to the Rome Olympic Games.
Mike visited both the Hammerli and Walther factories in the 1960s and the business began to import Walther firearms in 1964.
In the early years, pistols were the main focus for Frontier Arms, but by the 1980s, they were bringing in the Thompson Center range, which now produces the custom Icon bolt-action hunting rifles.
“At the moment, we have a broad product range, from precision target firearms to hunting rifles and airguns. And with our brands bringing out new models in 2009, like the Thompson Center Icon Varmint rifle and the Colt .45 Rail Gun, it makes for a good offering for the Australian shooter,” says Mike’s son and commercial director Chris Papps.
Despite being at an age where most folk are enjoying time out on the golf course, full-time retirement is clearly not on Mike’s agenda.
“Dad loves the job and still gets a buzz out of attending our booth at trade shows and in-store promotions,” says Chris.
“It’s great to have him around the place. His 60 years’ worth of product knowledge is invaluable.
“I can’t see him ever retiring, so maybe it’s time we looked at putting him back on the payroll and buying another Chev!”
Frontier Arms will be displaying their product range at the SSAA SHOT Expo in Melbourne this month.
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